The area between the teeth which is referred to as the inter dental area is the area which is most prone to plaque accumulation and periodontal breakdown and dental caries because it is the area of the mouth which is the most difficult to clean.
The inter dental area refers to the inter proximal area which is the area between adjacent teeth which consists of the roots of the teeth which are covered in cementum which overlies the dentin surface. Often the cementum is erroded or abraded leaving the underlying soft vulnerable dentin surface exposed leading to hypersensitivity or caries. This is the area also most vulnerable to plaque accumulation leading to periodontal breakdown.
Most devices designed to clean this inter dental area require manual dexterity, are difficult to use, take too much time, are painful, inefficient, tear or break easily, are expensive and therefore contribute to poor compliance by the patient. Dental floss is difficult to use and does not adequately clean the inter dental areas especially when some periodontal breakdown has already occurred. Currently most inter dental devices are brushes which are commonly made from nylon bristles which have been inserted into a twisted wire stem. These brushes are fragile and break frequently. The wire can scratch and irritate the fragile root surface as well as dental restorations and implants. They are often too wide to fit comfortably between the teeth. Other inter dental cleaners which are shaped like wedges can clean only by a push/pull technique and often leave plaque and debris behind.
Kandleman designed an inter dental cleaner to clean the inter proximal area and then deposit medicaments or antiseptics to said areas without removing said medicaments or antiseptics as the device is withdrawn. His device is inefficient and the applicator section is too long and is redundant and useless when the device is used only to clean the inter proximal areas and will jab and interfere with the tongue and cheeks as it cleans between the teeth. Furthermore the applicator must be thick enough to contain holes connecting to a hollow channel to deliver said medicaments so that it will bend and not adequately fit the small area between anterior and crowded teeth. At the same time the applicator must be thin yet rigid enough to guide the device through the narrow inter dental space. The Kandleman device would require an excessively large handle to hold enough material to treat the entire mouth and cannot be refilled easily (with an eye dropper effect) through the tip which is too narrow with holes that are too small and the distance from the tip to the semi rigid deformable handle is too long. The Kandleman device needs an additional section which is an applicator which is different from the cleaning section. This applicator section is redundant, especially if it is used for cleaning between the teeth, and is complicated and expensive to manufacture.